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Remember how yesterday I said "Follow the Money" when it came to the current crop of right-wing whackadoos? Well, I usually love it when I'm right (I'M RIGHT, MOTHERFUCKER - SUCK ON THAT), but in this case I find the justification of my cynicism to be just fucking depressing, although my blood pressure is starting to rise, as well.

So Glenn Beck had his little mutual masturbation event yesterday in Washington, DC. 87,000 people attended, and as part of the pre-event "festivities," Beck collected donations to support the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support to children of fallen service members. Sounds good, right? Show your support of our troops by supporting their children! It's a selfless act that provides demonstrable support!

"All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will be retained by SOWF."

So basically, Glenn Beck is saying, "Not only did you pay to come here and hear me spout my self-serving nonsense, but you're going to pay for the privilege of doing so. So that $5 million we collected? Totally going to pay for my public masturbation, and if there's a few bucks left over for the kids of those dead service members, well, they can take it and be grateful! Power to the Sheeple!"

And that's why I'm depressed. This is perhaps the most cynical, self-serving run-around I've ever heard of, and he's using the sacrifices of our Armed Forces - my brothers and sisters in arms - to further his own agenda. That's not new, of course, politicians do it all the time, but I find this to be a particular egregious example.

Glenn Beck is one slimy, amoral sonofabitch who has turned his media franchise into one big fleecing of his sheeple followers. And not only do they follow him and swoon at his feet, they happily pay for the privilege of being used.

I think I need a few days off from politics.

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H/T to Bob Cesca, who has appropriately called for an accounting of the expenditures of this event.

9
comments:

Janiece, I don't know how they did it, but that donation page kept all their print small, even when I tried to magnify it so I could see it on my big screen. I guess they wanted the fine print hard to read, even if that meant the rest was hard to read, too.

datio: How much of "donation" will go Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, instead of to SOWF.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is a legitimate charity that has roots back to 1980.

What Beck has done is have his supporters donate money to him, which after expenses of his great rally, will then be donated to the charity. You'll note on the page that if you want to send a check, you send it care of Mercury Radio, NOT directly to SOWF.

Will the charity benefit from Beck? Yes. Will Beck benefit for the well-publicized donation? Yes. Can he legitimately justify the reported $1 million that the rally cost? Legally, almost certainly. Ethically - especially given the money he makes and his claims to be a Christian - I call bullshit.

Something that you and anyone who reads this blog might want to keep in their arsenal for those Beck-lovers that may point to the money the rally has raised is this: legislation passed by Congress in 2009 amended the GI bill to provide children of all military personnel killed in the line of duty after September 11, 2001. Called the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship, it provides a full scholarships equal to in-state tuition for a public university, plus a stipend for living expenses and books. It's only for four years, and doesn't cover private colleges and universities. Details are available at http://www.gibill.va.gov/documents/fry_scholarship.pdf.

One other interesting piece of information. The SOWF made all speakers at the even sign an agreement promising not to talk politics at the event. Had even one refused to sign, they wouldn't have given Beck permission to use their name. So the impetus for the whole "non-political" theme wasn't Beck's idea - he was essentially forced into it.

I shoul note that SOWF will help cover more than four years, and will help with private college and university tuition., as well as supplement the government stipend. They also provide funds to help family members visit personnel severely wounded.

There is no doubt the charity will benefit from Beck's publicity, especially if he has raised $5 million as he claims. What is disgusting is that Beck could have had people donate directly to the charity instead of collecting money for it, then skimming off all his expenses first.

But of course had he done that, then he wouldn't have been Beck.

Tom, the donation page is in Flash, not text. It's a plug-in by a third party collection website, and the Flash doesn't give you a way to alter the text size, although you can program Flash so that is an option.

I had no doubt that what Beck pulled was legal under the rules of the I.R.S. - the website even makes a statement to that effect. And I have no doubt that SOWF is a decent organization that does good work (although I think their judgment may be suspect, associating themselves with the likes of him).

I just call shenanigans on how he oh-so-slickly fooled his dumb-ass minions into giving up their money on false pretenses. It seems obvious that he's quite adept at equivocation, just as it seems obvious that those who follow him are not exactly on the right side of the bell curve when it comes to critical thinking skills. Normally I wouldn't give a good goddamn - a fool and his money are soon parted, and all that.

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I'm a Trustee for my local library, because LIBRARIES. I care about science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I like to color, I aspire to run faster than I do, and I donate knitted cold weather gear to various charities. Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.